Oil and gas separator



April 14, 1936. R. s. M KEEVER OIL AND GAS SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 9, 1935 2 Sheets$heet 1 1i. S j cffeever :EHWEZ i h: :5. 1 a.

April 14, 1936. R, s, mqzava 2,037,426

OIL AND GAS SEPARATOR IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 14, 193.6

on. AND GAS SEPARATOR Roy S. McKeever, Tulsa, Okla., assignor to'Smith Separator Corporation, Tulsa, Okla ration of Oklahoma Application August 9, 1935, Serial No. 35,520

10 Claims. (01. 183-23) This invention relates to improvements in oil and gas separators and more particularly to an apparatus for separating gas from oil after the latter leaves an oil well. '5 The primary object of the invention is to provide improved means arranged within the shell of a separator for causing gas to automatically release entrained oil globules as well fluids pass through the shellor casing.

10 With the foregoing object outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

15 more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In thedrawings:

1 is a side elevation of an oil and gas separator-partly broken away to illustrate my im- 20 provement.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective yiewpartly broken away, of the portion'of the oil and gas 25 separator containing my improved separating means.

In the drawings, 5 .designates a fluid-tight casing of an oil and gas separator'provided, with an inlet pipe 6 by which a mixture of oil and gasis introduced into a medial portion of the casing.

The inlet pipe 6 preferably terminates within the casing in a centrifugal. or tangential nozzle 1, which has not been illustrated in detail but may be of the type shown in U. S. patent No. 1,779,023, 35 dated October 21, 1930. A conventional float control Bis arranged at one side of the tank and acts to control the outlet valve 9 through which oil is discharged from the tank. Gas passes out of the-top of the tank by-way of the outlet nt- 9 ting II]. All of .these parts are of known construction and I have simply illustrated them to show a workable embodiment of my invention.

An annular partition ll dividing the interior of the casing into upper and lower chambers I2 45 and I3, is preferably formed of a frusto-conical shaped imperforate sheet of metal having its.-

outer edge secured at l3a. by welding orthe like to the inner surface of the shell.

A chimney I4 extends through the central per- 50 tion of the partition and the inner annular edge of the partitionis preferably welded to the outer surface of the chimney to form a fluid-tight joint.

A portion of the chimney extends downwardly from the central portion I5 of the partition and .is

55 lmperforate while the upper portion I6 projects V upwardly above the partition and isprovided with a multiplicity of vertically elongated slots ll.

In order to prevent fluidin the chamber l3 from directly entering the lower end of the chimney, a baflle i8 isv provided. This baflle is 5 preferably formed of a circular blade of greater diameter than the chimney and it' is held in spaced relation to the lower edge of the latter by means of brackets l9 which may be suspended from the chimney. l0

A cover plate 20 closes the upper end of the chimney and it is preferably formed of a circular baiiie plate of considerably greater diameter than the chimney but of less diameter than the interiorof the cylinder or casing.

Spiral wings or blades w arepositioned between the cover plate and. partition and project outwardly from the chimney. Each of these blades has a horizontal top edge engaging the. undersuri-ace of the cover plate 20. The lower 20 edge of each wing slants downwardly and outwardly and snugly engages the substantially conical upper surface of the partition II. .The inner-vertical edge of each wing coincides with an edge of one of the vertical slots, and the outer edges of the wings are spaced apart a greater distance than their inner edges whereby the velocity of the fluid flowing through the flaring passageways between .the vanes, will be decreased 'as the fluid travels toward the wall of the Abutment blades or vanes 22 are fixed on the .35

inner surface of the shell immediately above the partition H and they form channels 23 arranged at about 45 angles to the vertical so as to catch liquid directed onto the inner surface of the shell by gas passing between the spiral wings, and the 40 liquid so gathered, falls onto the upper surface of the partition plate II and is directed into the bottom portion of the casing by one or more down pipes 25. g I

In operation it will be understood that the admixed oil and gas enters the side of the separator shell through the nozzle 1 which is positioned below the partition I l. The oil having more mass than the gas tends to fall to the bottom of' the separator due to the action of gravity, and

The purpose of my improvements is to remove this quantity of oil from the mixture and solution with the gas. The gas with oil in suspension and solution will be hereinafter referred to as rich gas. As said gas rises, it comes into contact with the umbrella shed or substantially conical baflie plate H, which due to the shape of its undersurface tends toguide the rich gas toward the axis of the separator. However, as the lower portion of the chimney I4 is imperiorate, the rich gas must now descend before it can enter the lower end of the chimney through the space between the plate I8 and the chimney. Of course, any liquid knocked out of the rich gas by impact with the chimney, gathers on the surface of the latter and drops onto the plate I8 from which it will descend into the bottom of the separator.

with any of the surfaces of the device adhere thereto and drain ofi.

The battle plate I8 is of greater diameter the the chimney and it acts to spread and diffuse the rich gas upon entering the separator, preventing the rich gas from channeling to a concentrated stream'from the inlet of the separator direct to the cylinder. The curved stationary wings or spiral blades 20a direct the gas from its straight or diffused line of propagation to a centrifugal line or to a whirling motion. The precipitated droplets have the same velocity as the rich gas upon entering the vane passageways through the long vertical slots in the chimney and as the vanes have a greater spread from the chimney outwardly, the velocity of the gas as it approaches the free edges of the vanes decreases,

but as the droplets have greater mass and therefore, greater momentum, they are carried by the combined forces of velocity and centrifugal force,

set up by the vanes, through the gas to the surface of the vanes and shell of the separator. As the droplets contact with the shell they are still in a whirling motion and this quantity of fluid or oil gathered in this manner is stopped and directed down to the top of. the umbrella shed l I by means of the fluid channels 23. Of course, the liquid collected in this way is directed by the pipe or pipes 25 into the bottom of the shell.

The dry gas liberated of the oil rises to the top of the shell and it discharges through the pipe l0. While I have'discl'osed one e'mbodiment of my invention in such manner that the construction and advantages thereof may bereadily under-- stood by those skilled in the art, it is manifest that changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed inthe claims.

What -I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an oiland gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tank. between the inlet and outlet, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partition plate and having upper and lower portions,'the upper portion of the chimney above the partition plate being slotted, a substantially flat cover. plate closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface ofthe chimney, and spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said cover plate and said partition plate for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the inner surface of the tank in spiral directions,.the outer edges of said vanes being spaced apart a greater distance than the inner portions thereof.

2. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet,

. an annular frusto-conical plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and th outlet, a chimney extending through the central portion of the par-' tition plate and having upper and lower portions,

the upper portion of the chimney above the plate being slotted, a substantially flat cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chim ney, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said plates for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the inner surface of the tank in a non-radial direction, and a pipe for conducting liquid from the outer edge portion of the partition plate into the bottom of the tank.

3. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having .'a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a substantiallyfrusto-conical partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partition plate and having an upper por-' tion positioned above the partition plate and provided with elongated substantially vertical slots, a substantially flat cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chinmey, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said cover plate and said partition plate for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the inner surplate positioned below the central portion of the partition plate and spaced from the chimney to prevent rich gas from directly entering the ,chimthe central portion of the partition plate andhaving an upper portion arranged above the plate and provided with outlet slots, a substantially flat cover plate closing the upper ends of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the .45 faceof the tank in a spiral direction, and a baiiie outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes ex-,-

tending outwardly from the. upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said plates for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the inner surface of the tank in spiral directions, the outer edges of certain vanes being spaced apart a greater distance than the inner portions thereof, and other vanes arranged on the inner surface of the tank above the partition plate for directing liquid collecting on the innersurface of the'tank toward the partition plate.

5. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a

partition plate positioned in the tank between A a r 2,037,420 I the inlet and outlet, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partition plate and having upper and lower portions, the upper portion of the chimney above the partition plate being slotted, a substantially flat cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney'and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said cover plate and said partition plate for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to flow toward the inner surface of the tank in spiral directions, the lower portion of the chimney below the central portion of the-partition plate being imperforate.

8. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a lower'mixtureinlet and an upp gas outlet, a partition .plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet, a chimney extending through the central portion-of the partition plate and upper and lower portions, the upper portion of the chimney above the partition plate being slotted, a cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes extending outwardly --from the upper poringtbechimney.

'7'. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and'an upper gas outlet, a substantially frusto-conical plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet and dividing the interior of the tank'into upper and a chimney extending through.

the central portion of the partition plate and having upper and lower portions, the upper portion of the chimney above the partition being provided with parallel elongated substantially vertical slots, a substantially flat cover plate closing the upperend of the chimney andextending outwardly beyond the outer surfaae 'of the chimnet'spiral vanes extending outwardly from the f upper portion of the chimney and having their upper ends engaging the cover plate and their lower ends engaging the partition plate and-a pipe for leading liquid from the upper surface of the'partition plate to the lower portion of the tank.

lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a substantially fmsto-conical plate positioned in the tank between the inlet and outlet and dividing the interior of the tank into upper and lower chambers, a chimney extending through the central portion of the partition plate-and having upper and lower portions, the upper portion of I the chimney above the-partition being provided with parallel elongated substantially vertical slots,

8. In an oil andg'as separator, atankhaving a :a. substantially flat cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney and'extending outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and having their upper ends 5 engaging the cover plate and'their lower ends engaging the partition plate, means for leading liquid from the upper surface of the partition plate to the lower portion of the tank, the lower portion of the chimney extending downwardly below the'central portion of the partition plate, and a bailie plate arranged below and spaced from the chimney to prevent rich gas in thelower chamber from directly entering the chimney.

, 9. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a'lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, a partition plate positioned in the tankbetween the inlet and outlet, theupper surface of said v plate being of substantially frusto-conical shape, a chimney extending through the central portion of said plate and having an upper portion extending above said plate, the upper portion of the chimney being provided with a circumferential series of parallel substantially vertical slots,

means closing the upper end of the chimney and 2| including a plate portion projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion, of the chimney and engaging said plateportion and said partition plate for causing rich gas flowing through the slots of the chimneyoto flow toward the .inner surface of the tank in spiral directions, means on the inner surface of the tank above the partition plate for guiding toward said partition plate, ba-flle means at the lowerend of the chimney to prevent rich gas' from directly entering the chimney, and means for conveying liquid gathering on the partition plate, into the bottom portion of the tank.

. 10. In an oil and gas separator, a tank having a lower mixture inlet and an upper gas outlet, an imperforate partition plate positioned in the tank between the inlet'and outlet,,a chimney extending through the central portion of the plate and having upper and lower portions, the upper portion of the chimney above the partition plate being, slotted, a substantially flat imperforate cover plate closing the upper end of the chimney and projecting outwardly beyond the outer surface of the chimney, spiral vanes extending outwardly from the upper portion of the chimney and positioned between said cover plate and said partition plate-for causing rich gas flowing from the chimney through the slots of the latter to 5 flow-toward the inner surface of the tank in spiral directions, the outer edgesof the vanes being spaced apart a greater distance than the inner portions thereof to formflaring passageways between the vanes, the surfaces of the vanes being unobstructed to allow free flow of the fluid outwardly through said passageways, and means associated with the lower portion of the chimney to prevent rich gas from directly entering.

' liquid gathering on the inner surface of the tank so the chimney from the portion of the tank below the partition plate. v

- ROY S. McKEEVER. 

